Sox versus Yanks: Could It Be Great?
By the way, the blog was a little light yesterday because I traveled up to Boston to meet with some folks at the Red Sox, doing research for the next book. It seems like a nice organization to work for—everyone in their front office is extremely casual and equally friendly. And very helpful.
I've just begun reading
Seth Mnookin's book about the team, Feeding the Monster. The Sox gave him terrific access; too bad he's not much of a writer. (What Michael Lewis could have done with that access.) Mnookin writes as if he's got one hand tied behind his back. "Young left fielder Carl Yastrzemski—who soon came to be known by the nickname 'Yaz'—was an exciting player to watch..." Clunkety-clunkety-clunk. Ah, well. The reviews say that Mnookin got some great material, and I look forward to reading it.
I also look forward to the rest of this baseball season; it could be a great one for the AL East. The Sox are up by 1/2 a game, a mere 1/2 a game, when by all rights they should be running away with the season. While the Yankees have been falling to the turf with greater frequency than the Italian soccer team—injuries have cost them Gary Sheffield (so much for becoming a free agent next year, Gary) and Hideki Matsui (such an elegant man, he actually apologized to the team and the fans for breaking his wrist while trying to make a sliding catch)—the Sox ripped off 12 straight wins before the All-Star break. And the Yankees, who lost a hideous game to Cleveland, 19-1, looked lost.
Then the Yanks come out for the second half and take three straight from the world champion White Sox, ending Jose Contreras' 17-game win streak in the process. They won their fourth straight last night, beating the Mariners 4-3, despite three errors by Alex Rodriguez...
...who continues to be one of the most fascinating players in baseball. He may be the greatest athlete in the game, but his head is seriously messed up. (How's that for fancy writing? "Seriously messed up.") He's got 20 home runs and 68 RBIs, but by his standards, those numbers—and his .284 batting average—are unimpressive. And, of course, there's the clutch-hitting problem....and he's now committed more errors than he did all last year.
A-Rod's struggles are only magnified by the fact that he plays next to Derek Jeter, who's having a magnificent season—hitting .343, fielding brilliantly, quietly leading his team. Jeter is the most confident man in sports, I think. A-Rod has so many negative thoughts buzzing around his head head, you can practically see him try to shake them away. It's one reason why, despite the fact that he's making $25 million a year, I feel a little sorry for A-Rod, and I'd like to see him exorcise his demons. The man is not having fun....and trying to get your head straight in front of 50,000 fans every night can't be easy. Can anyone say
Chuck Knoblauch?
But the race between the Yankees and the Red Sox—now, that's fun. It's never easy between these two teams... Don't you just know that this season is going to go right down to the wire?
